Front-End diagnosis help...

[xj-grin]

Yes, this is on the WJ, but since my radius arm-style long-arm is pretty damn similar to what many of you are running, I think your 2 cents might be worth... IDK, 2 cents!

Symptoms:

*slight vibration 60-75
*Thumping noise over washboard-type surfaces -- not quite a clunk
*Flirting-with-but-not-death-wobble, particularly over expansion joints in the highway, etc -- as with all DW, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't, but I am definitely feeling some harshness in the steering wheel that wasn't previously there...

Whats been done:

*nearly-new Duratracs mounted yesterday, bead-balanced by Joe :cheers: (the above symptoms were present with the old MTRs too...)
*new unit bearings on both sides;
*new TRE on drag-link axle side -- no evidence of play in the pitman side;

I crawled around last night trying to figure it out, and so far no luck. My wife did the steering wiggle while I watched the trac-bar, no play. I checked all the bolts on the control arms, no play. I took a pry bar to tall the johnny-joints and seemingly they are tight. The stock JK tie-rod is not my favorite design (bends forward at both ends to form a \____/ shape to clear other axle parts, which causes it to droop down on the TRE's from the wieght of the tie rod), but the joints seem OK...

I have not done ball joint tests as yet, nor have I had it aligned since I haven't done anything that could tweak the alignment... Thoughts? I'm taking the family camping this weekend, so I would prefer that DW not be in my vocabulary... If not for the wobble, I'd blow off the minor vibes and the thumping, I mean it is a jeep after all!

Pic of new-to-me-meats, just cause:

 

[time2getdirty]

do the TRE at the pitman arm even if it looks good. That has been my problem and my dads in the last month...

 

[xj-grin]

I can, of course, but its a 1.5-year old chevy 1-ton joint that has seen VERY little off road action. I can't imagine its failed already...

 

[time2getdirty]

do a quick driveway allignment if you think it might be that. dosent take more than 5 minutes...

 

[xj-grin]

Should have listed that -- toe appears fine per driveway measurements, caster hasn't changed since install...

 

[time2getdirty]

what does toe appear? people say 1/8th -1/4 but I prefer it closer to the 1/4 mark

 

[xj-grin]

If I were within 1/8 of an inch on the driveway, I'd never get it professionally done! Yeah -- its in the 1/8-1/4 inch range...

 

[Joe94xj]

Is this something that started happening awhile after the build or was it there from the beginning after the build? I would check those ball joints for sure. I have seen several stock low mileage JK's with bad ball joints. I you want I can check your alignment at my work for free. Just so you know where you are at.

 

[xj-grin]

no, it was worry free until a few weeks ago - clunks, vibes and wobbles have been multiplying. Certainly the new rubber has helped with the vibes, but there still remains that one speed range where they are noticeable, and the clunk and wobble hasn't diminished like I hoped it would... I'll investigate the tierod issue. What sucks is that the JK design is a piece of shizznitle, replacement parts for it are exorbitantly expensive, and I don't think I have the coin to come up with an aftermarket remedy right now...

What also sucks is that my ear puts the thump/clunk mid-body on the passenger side -- i.e. where the front LA joint is... whether the clunk sound is travelling up the arm to this location, or whether there is an issue with the joint that I haven't identified, I couldn't say...

 

[Joe94xj]

If you want some help giving it a good look over let me know. Im off the next couple of days. Oh and thanks to you I have the WJ bug now.

 

[xj-grin]

LOL -- sorry, man. They are kindof sexy lifted, huh?

 

[Joe94xj]

That they are. Now if only I could afford it.

 

[Frank Z]

Bring it by after work.

 

[xj-grin]

hmmm -- that may work today, but I can't reproduce any clunkage in a driveway, you'll have to go for a drive...

 

[Frank Z]

Ok.

 

[xj-grin]

Update: Went over to the oh shiznitlle garage this evening and Frank put his sensitive fingers on my front end :shhh: We determined that while there is nothing major wrong, there is a collection of minor stuff that, typical of a jeep, adds up to get close to DW. The main clunk was an easy one that I just missed -- loose jam nut on one of my rear upper control arms.

So tonight I replaced the bushings in my JKS track bar with some MUCH harder versions from Kevin's Off Road. Note though, the JKS bushings are in no way worn out (no cracking, no deforming), but rather the JKS bushings are just ridiculously soft to begin with and thus do a bit of wiggling whenever anything else is out of wack... I had bought these KOR bushings some time ago planning to swap them in when I had time knowing that JKS' kinda sucked, but I hadn't gotten around to it... The KOR bushings made a significant difference in general steering feel, we'll see what the ride to work in the morning feels like when I hit the crappy expansion joints on I-25 on the way into the springs. Frank thought he felt a little bit of play in the pitman-side TRE on the draglink (good call David!), and a little bit of play in the drivers side TRE. I'll get to those as I can if I've worked it out enough to live with for a while with tonight's work.

Next question -- for all those who have used dynamic/air-soft balancing before, have you noticed any variation in balance between speeds? My tires feel absolutely like silk below 55mph, but there is a small but noticeable vibration from 55 up... don't know if that is normal for bead-balanced tires, or what...

Thanks for the feel-up, Frank! :cheers:

 

[Frank Z]

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.....

Or

Your welcome

What ever works for ya.

 

[rockfrog]

Mine has been doing the same thing, especially at the bridge over Cottonwood Creek on Powers, hit the joint slight wobble then nothing. Then this weekend while going down I25 hit a bump at 65mph and all hell broke loose, nothing like the DW on the highway with cars all around to get your adrenaline pumping. Luckily got it slowed down and was able to get off the highway. I thinks i scared the little old lady next to me to death, she started slowing at the same pace as me.

I am curious to if the new TB bushing helps out. I suspect mine is out of alignment too, but am going to wait until I can get the quadrdive front axle in it, think I'll put new ball joints in it too before I install it.

Sell my XJ that has no issues and the WJ starts to freak out on me, the DW and now the radiator decided it wants to leak. Go figure.

 

[Joe94xj]

Chris if you want me to rebalance the tires with standard weights to see if your vibe goes away let me know.

 

[DutchVDub]

Chris, on my 36" Bias Iroks I was using air soft bb's for balance and did notice in them at a certain speed I would get a slight wobble. Nothing serious at all, but for me it was arounf 55mph if I remember correctly. You can always try adding more BB's. Theoretically you can't have too many as they'll just distribute themselves out. I know I put a ton in my Iroks. Once I get back from AT I'll be doing it with the Krawlers to see if that helps them with their on road driving characteristics.

Like the one dude said as in some movie I can't remember (medieval setting, he was being tortured by having stones placed on top of him), "More weight"